P50: ALL ABOUT ALLERGENS – DEVELOPMENT AND UPTAKE OF NATIONALLY STANDARDISED ONLINE TRAINING FOR THE FOOD SERVICE SECTOR
Internal Medicine Journal · 2023
Background: Allergic reactions to food eaten away from home commonly occur. The high prevalence of food allergy in Australia has increased the burden on food service providers to manage food allergens. In Australia there is no legislative or accreditation requirement mandating that food service providers have food allergy policies or food allergen management training for staff. To address this gap, the National Allergy Council (NAC) food service project aimed to optimise food allergen management through free, nationally standardised online training across the food service sector. Method: Since 2017, the NAC undertook extensive engagement with key stakeholders to understand what resources and training were needed, and how best to deliver them. Stakeholder consultation provided guidance on how to communicate the shared responsibility between food providers, consumers, compliance officers and legislators. The original All About Allergens training produced by Adult Multicultural Education Services Australia in consultation with Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia, provided the basis for the development of the NAC courses. Enrolment and completion rates of the courses are monitored ongoing. Conclusion: The NAC food service project continues to successfully engage with key stakeholders and provide evidence-based, best-practice, standardised education and resources for food service providers, with high uptake and completion of online training. Future work will evaluate the user experience and explore how to better engage culturally and linguistically diverse food service workers.